Concrete slabs such as concrete building foundations, concrete floors, patios, parking lots, and the like often experience concrete shrinkage subsequent to initial pouring and hardening of the concrete slab. Such shrinkage often results in irregular, unsightly, and hazardous cracking throughout the concrete slab. In order to lessen or ameliorate the negative effects of such concrete shrinkage and irregular cracking, a regular matrix of narrow contraction joints are commonly placed by saw cutting into the surface of the concrete slab.
Such saw cut contraction joints are often desirably filled with an elastomeric caulk or filler material. For example, where a saw cut concrete slab must support heavy equipment including hard rollers, a semi-rigid filler may be placed within the saw cut to prevent breakage and chipping at the edges of the saw cut. Such saw cuts may also be filled to prevent unsanitary dirt and debris from accumulating within the saw cut, and in such circumstances a flexible rubberized caulk may be placed within the saw cuts.
In many circumstances, the vertical depth of a concrete slab contraction joint exceeds a desired vertical dimension or fill depth of contraction joint filler. For example, a 2 inch deep contraction joint may be desirably filled only to a depth of ½ inch. In such circumstances, means for preventing the initially viscous filler from downwardly seeping into the joint below the ½ inch level during curing and hardening are desirably provided. Such means commonly take the form of flexible lengths of elastomeric foam backer rod or seam packing strands whose diameters are closely fitted to the lateral dimension of a contraction joint. Such backer rod may be inserted downwardly into a contraction joint and friction between the backer rod and the joint's walls effectively holds the backer rod at a desired depth. Such elastomeric foam backer rod insertions create a needed floor for temporary support for contraction joint fill during fill hardening.
Manual processes for inserting such elastomeric foam backer rod into saw cut contraction joints within a slab are time consuming, laborious, and result in undesirable waste of man hours. The instant inventive backer rod installation tool solves or ameliorates such problems and deficiencies by providing a specially configured wheeled tool which allows a single worker to progressively install backer rod within a concrete expansion joint in a timely and economic fashion.